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December 8, 2009

Finding words that work

Don McNay

A - I’ll always want you

B - Because my heart is true

C - Come, come, come closer

And I’ll tell you of the ABC’s

— Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers

I’ve been glued to Dr. Frank Luntz’s 2007 book, “Words That Work.” I liked it so much that I bought copies for everyone in my office.

Luntz is a political consultant, best known for creating “The Contract with America.” He offers a number of fascinating ideas about how business and political leaders can best get their points across.

As far as communications books, I rank it right up there with Roger Ailes’ “You Are the Message” and Peggy Noonan’s “Speaking Well.”

All three of these authors are Republicans. Until Barack Obama came along, Republicans seemed to have cornered the market on people who pay attention to phrasing.

Al Franken said it best: “Language is like music. Unfortunately, the Republicans have a Paul McCartney in the person of Frank Luntz. Somehow, the Democrats got stuck with Yoko Ono.”

The Luntz book has a chapter on a specific word manipulation that has bothered me for quite some time: how gambling suddenly became “gaming.”

That particular turn of phrase was coined by a former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Frank Fahrenkopf. After leaving the RNC, Fahrenkopf became president of the American Gaming Association.

To me, “gaming” means stuff like cricket, croquet and polo — high-browed games that aren’t played for money.

Fahrenkopf was paid by people who own casinos, slot machines and places where people can lose piles of money.

I doubt any polo players contributed to Frank’s salary.

Frank’s organization did an incredible job of getting the word “gaming” into the vocabulary.

For a long time, you could tell who was for or against the expansion of casinos by the word they used. People who wanted casinos in their state said “gaming” and opponents called it “gambling.”

Now, even natural opponents of gambling, like Baptist ministers, will say they are opposed to “expanded gaming.”

I guess some people don’t like cricket and croquet.

I always call gambling “gambling” because I grew up around gamblers.

I watched people win and lose vast sums of money. I’ve seen people lose their houses, and sometimes their lives, over gambling debts.

You don’t see that happening over on the cricket field.

I’m not opposed to gambling in moderation. I’m seriously opposed to gambling being called “gaming.”

Luntz took part in another word manipulation that I hate — calling the estate tax a “death tax.”

That one worked really well for a while, but none of the proponents ever got past the obvious: You don’t get taxed to die. Dying is a freebie.

Your family gets taxed when you leave a large estate. As Luntz points out, you really only get taxed when you leave a large estate and don’t hire lawyers and estate planners to help you plan around the tax.

I agree with Luntz’s point. The tax only applies to people who are lousy planners. However, his point doesn’t overcome my irritation with this mislabeling.

Years ago, I was trained in a field called “estate planning.” My job was to make rich people richer, and I had a lot of clients.

If my title had been “death planner” instead of “estate planner,” I don’t think I would have had nearly as many customers.

The estate tax only applies to rich people. But Luntz, and his ability to twist words, had some poor and middle-class people, who will never come close to paying an estate tax, railing against it.

“Words that Work” has practical tips, like how to talk yourself into a better seat on an airplane and advice for those who seek to lead the nation, or to help get more customers for a business.

I may not like some of the people whom Luntz has helped, but I have to admire his craftsmanship.

He knows the ABC’s of effective communication.

Don McNay, CLU, ChFC, MSFS, CSSC is the founder of McNay Settlement Group, a structured settlement consulting firm in Richmond, Ky. Write to Don at don@donmcnay.com.

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